Gun adapted preferably for use in submarine boats.



K. VO'LLBR, I GUN ADAPTED PREPEBABLY FOR USE IN SUBMARINB BOATS APPLICATION IILED JUNE 24, 1913.

4 i,98,-50@ Patented; Apr. 14,1914

2 .HEETSSHEET l.

WITNESSES INVENTUR V 1QQWQQ 22am y/zi? s M :55 ES K. VULLBR. GUN ADAPTED PBEFBRABLY FOR USE IN SUBMARINF BQATS. APPLICATION 'HLED JUNE 24 1918. 1 3,54 I Eatented Apr. 14, 191%.

V HWENTUR M flaw To all whom it may concern: 7

TED earns KARL VfiLLLR, 0F DUSSELDORF, @ERMANY.

Specification of. Letters Patent.

rice.)

4 Application filed aunc i, 191s. seria nojwslsca.

. Be it knownthat I, KARL Vitamin; en

gineer, a subject of the German lilmperor residing at 12 Scharnhorststrasse, Dusseldorf, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guns Adapted.

Preferably for Use in Submarine Boats;

and I do hereby'declare the'following to be pearing gun, that is to say, to a gun that is arranged to be lowered into an inclosing chamber and is thus specially adapted for the use in submarine boats.

More especially. my invention relates to that kind of guns answering to the above description, in which the cover provided for closing the said chamber is in operative connection with the gun proper.

According to my inventionI connect the cover to the barrel of the gun in such a manner that it partakes of the sliding movements imparted to the gun. By this means I obtain the specific advantage that the bore of the gun can be made comparatively large, for the reason that the mass of the cover is thus added to the recoiling mass of the barrel. According to my invention I attach the cover to a part which is rocked simultaneously with the barrel for the purpose of giving the latter the desired elevation. In guns which have the trunnions placed very far backward, the cover can thus be utilized to form a counterweight. 1n elevating the gun the center of gravity is rocked around the axis of the trunnions and I make the cover adjustable in such a manner that it can be shiftedaccordingly and thereby maintain the equilibrium of the system. Such shifting of the covercanbe performed by hand and for that purpose index marks may be provided to indicate the required length of the adjustment in every case. But my invention also comprises means for shifting the cover auto matically as the barrel is elevated as by means of a cam. By means of locking mechanism the cover can be fixed in the desired position. In cases in which the po sition of the trunnions is so chosen that their aiiis passes through the center of gravity without of the rocking system, the weight of the forward p rt-of the gun may be counterbalanced once and for all by the cover v 7 providing means "for shifting the latter. If it 1s preferred to utilize the cover as a shield against projectiles it may be protected with steel armor.

l-.-In the accompanying drawing the preoperative position in full lines and in the withdrawn position in broken lines. Fig. 2 1s a sectional elevation of another embodiment of the invention in the withdrawn po sit-ion and Fig. 3 a sectional elevation of the same embodiment in an elevated position.

In Fig. 1 a represents the'deck of a submarlne boat. Uprights b are provided to support a casing or chamber a adapted to receive the gun, when it is withdrawn from the firing position. By means of brackets al a cover 0 is fastened to the ,barrel d of the gun. Through the bottom of the casing a passes a piston or plunger 7 which moves in a cylinder 9 fed by Water premiere; the whole adapted and arranged to raise and lower the gun into and out of the'firing position. This latter arrangement forms no part of my present invention and could be replaced by any other adequate means for operating the gun without affecting the na ture of my invention. According to the arrangement illustrated the plunger 7 may be simultaneously utilized as a pivot to swing the gun around the horizon.

In the instance illustrated in Fig. l thecover 0 is attached to the barrel of the gun. The latteris placed in a sliding support in a manner usual in the art, the slide moving lengthwise in a cradle it against the counter Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

action of a brake cylinder 7& to allow for the necessary recoil movement. Thus the cover 0 takes part in the recoil movement when the gun is fired. The cradle 71 is supported on shown in weight of the cover is lncreased by the weight of the gun thus enhanoin the pressure of the cover on its seat on tie edge of the casing'a and producingamore perfect fit against leakage.

In the instance'illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 the cover (2, instead of being attached directly to the gun barrel, is attached to the,

I fixing it in the desired position by means of the locking arrangement is, it can be brought into a position in which it exactly counterbalances the weight of the forward. end of the gun in any desired elevation. The couple roduced by the action of gravity upon the orward end of the gun varies inversely with the elevation and by thus providing means for variously adjusting the cover these variations of the said couple can be equalized.

I do not my invention shown in Figs, 2 and 3, claims thereto being presented in a concurrent apherein claim the embodiment of.

lication filed October 3, 1913, Serial No. 93,121 I Havmg thus described my invention what I claim is:

1*. In combination with a gun adaptedfor use in submarine boats, a casing for said gun, a cover for said casing movable vertically with said gun, and means for simultaneously raising and lowering the gun and said cover, said cover being also movable with said gun in the recoil thereof.

2. In combination with a gun adapted for use in submarine boats, a casing for said gun, a cover for said'casing carried by said gun and movable therewith on its recoil, and means for raising and lowering said gun.

3. In combination with a submarine boat, a casing extending beneath the deck thereof, a gun adapted to fit in said casing, a cover vfor the latter capable of being raised and lowered concurrently with the gun, and

means for raising and lowering the gun, said cover bein also movable with said gun in the recoil thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

. KARL VOLLER. Witnesses:

HELEN Nome, ALBERT NUFER. 

